Belated Photos of Disney Trip
10/26/2005
As promised quite some time ago, here are a few pics of our little trip to Disney World last December. Unfortunately, none of the nighttime shots came out very well, but we will hopefully be going back some time next year... with a BETTER camera.
Novachild with his homeboy Mickey M.Nova's sporting a Conestoga tee, a fun little sf/fantasy convention in Tulsa, OK.
Nova - standing before his mighty fortress of doom.
Basira, cane in hand (recent knee injury), entertained by anonery white goat with quite an itch on his scalp.
See, we were really there!
posted by Edward Svengali @ Wednesday, October 26, 2005,
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Belief-O-Matic!
10/21/2005
Curious about what the results might be, I tried the Beliefnet Belief-O-Matic quiz today. Here are the results below (the percentages indicate how closely my general beliefs match the religion in question).
What is particularly strange is the second result; I really don't know how they are able to generate that based on my questions, because I don't believe in a personal deity. Currently, my beliefs lean towards Naturalistic Panthiesm; however, my only real divergence from the main 'principles' is the fact that I honestly don't know what happens to the persona/soul/whatever at death. I don't believe that I dissolve; I don't disbelieve it, either. But at the same time, I've seen things that have me nearly convinced that something indeed does exist outside of the body.
Good thing I'm not in a hurry to fit all my 'beliefs' into someone else's little box, eh?
| 1. | Liberal Quakers (100%) |
| 2. | Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (95%) |
| 3. | Unitarian Universalism (94%) |
| 4. | Neo-Pagan (91%) |
| 5. | New Age (87%) |
| 6. | Taoism (82%) |
| 7. | Mahayana Buddhism (78%) |
| 8. | Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (78%) |
| 9. | Bah�'� Faith (73%) |
| 10. | Secular Humanism (70%) |
| 11. | Theravada Buddhism (66%) |
| 12. | New Thought (65%) |
| 13. | Orthodox Quaker (60%) |
| 14. | Scientology (58%) |
| 15. | Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (54%) |
| 16. | Jainism (52%) |
| 17. | Hinduism (51%) |
| 18. | Reform Judaism (50%) |
| 19. | Sikhism (43%) |
| 20. | Nontheist (41%) |
| 21. | Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (41%) |
| 22. | Jehovah's Witness (40%) |
| 23. | Seventh Day Adventist (29%) |
| 24. | Orthodox Judaism (26%) |
| 25. | Islam (22%) |
| 26. | Eastern Orthodox (18%) |
| 27. | Roman Catholic (18%) |
posted by Edward Svengali @ Friday, October 21, 2005,
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PG5YP Live Pics from 10/8/05 Premiere!
10/18/2005
After a couple of weeks of patient waiting, a few photos of PG5YP's premiere performance have finally surfaced!
(R2L: novachild, Timbre'Wolf, MoChroi, Gypsy, Alice)
Here's the whole band groovin' out under the early Autumn sun.
(Yes, that is a wheelbarrel and shovel in front of the 'stage').
The stage is a small flatbed trailer. How much more 'roots' can you get?
And check out those new JBL speakers! Wickedly cool!
Timbre'Wolf (Left) and Novachild (Right) getting funkified.
The lovely Gypsy (Left) and MoChroi (Right)
Keeping the groove alive!
And because this is his journal, here's a bigger shot of Novachild:
Hands in action!
Here's the whole band groovin' out under the early Autumn sun.
(Yes, that is a wheelbarrel and shovel in front of the 'stage').
The stage is a small flatbed trailer. How much more 'roots' can you get?
And check out those new JBL speakers! Wickedly cool!
Timbre'Wolf (Left) and Novachild (Right) getting funkified.
The lovely Gypsy (Left) and MoChroi (Right)Keeping the groove alive!
And because this is his journal, here's a bigger shot of Novachild:Hands in action!
posted by Edward Svengali @ Tuesday, October 18, 2005,
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Hell House Criticism (was The Nightmare, Part 1)
10/17/2005
Posted this in a friend's journal, but I thought it summed up some things about my beliefs that readers here may find interesting. It's in response to her visit to "The Nightmare," a local Evangelical event held around Halloween every year. "The Nightmare" is what is commonly referred to as a "Hell House," a 'spook house' filled with mock-ups of AIDS victims, drug abusers, and abortions gone wrong designed to scare people into becoming Christians.
What follows is a loose edit of my comment, along with a link to a fantastic documentary about Hell Houses.
(original post here)
In the larger scheme of things, what they are doing is about as meaningful as a mouse dropping. So I agree with you in principle (that I don't see anything 'wrong' with what they are doing). The universe has been around for billions upon billions of years. And before that... well, where does the body end? A couple thousand years of proselytizing and burning witches and condemning heretics and brainwashing young children and setting up exclusive retreat centers and theme parks and resorts won't mean anything in another epoch. It will be folk history. The stuff of children's rhymes, if it is remembered at all.
The trouble with most religious folk is that they cannot fathom infinity. They have to put a cap on it. Eventually, the questions that led them to discover a spiritual path are forgotten - or forced out - by a decisive choice to 'give up.' Because it's probably very hard for most people to feel good about oneself when staring in the face of infinity. It's just so... vast. William Burroughs once said that "A man who prays in Space is just wasting his breath" or something to that effect.
I'm a bit vocal on the subject; it interests me. I was raised with the 'fear of hell,' and I got to see the depths people could crawl in order to uphold the tenets of the Church. In the here and now, I think what GUTS promotes is an extremely sad, limiting, and imprisoning ideology. But ultimately irrelevant. Mother Nature will see to that; she always wins because she has nothing to prove.
Read More about Hell Houses at Religioustolerance.org
Buy "Hell House" from Amazon
posted by Edward Svengali @ Monday, October 17, 2005,
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Bombing Smurfs
10/13/2005
Oh... my... god!
Absolutely brilliant.
I hope one of the bombs has a big W on it; that would be nice and sick.
posted by Edward Svengali @ Thursday, October 13, 2005,
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Busy Bee!
10/12/2005
Good news/bad news -
Bad news is I am completely committed every night from Sunday to Wednesday.
So I'm even less available than I was before to do mid-week stuff.
Good news is that my band will be on a Compilation CD in November. We're going to record in about three weeks.
So it looks like I'm married to it. :)
I don't know how long we're going to practice at such frequency, but it should be worth the effort. I hope some of my readers make it to our next gig (some time in November, I think. Will post details as I get them).
posted by novachild @ Wednesday, October 12, 2005,
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Freedom for All Ireland Xmas Benefit
10/07/2005
Our gig is tomorrow! Saturday, Oct 8 at 4:30-ish on 1st/Main - Jenks, OK (outside, free). And the following weekend there is another special musical treat. David Lawrence from Larkin sent me a flyer via email today. They are playing a benefit on Oct. 15, 2005 at Arnie's Bar, the proceeds of which benefit the National AOH FFAI Initiative.
4th Annual Saoirse Benefit
Featuring Music by:
Larkin
Cairde Na Gael
Celtic Cheer
Four Fiddlers of the Apocalypse
10/15/05 @ 7:00 PM
Arnie's Bar/2nd & Elgin
Check them out if you can. Larkin is a fantastic band, as are all the others I'm sure.
posted by Edward Svengali @ Friday, October 07, 2005,
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Tee Hee
10/06/2005
Haven't done a quiz in a long while.
| You scored as The Femme Fatale. You're carefree, dark and adventurous...and slightly fatale to the heart.
What Type of Lesbian Are You? (Inspired by Curve Mag.) created with QuizFarm.com |
posted by Edward Svengali @ Thursday, October 06, 2005,
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PG5YP LIVE! THIS SATURDAY
The People's Glorious Five Year Plan (with novachild on percussion) is playing this Saturday, October 8, at the Jenks "Art On Main" festival.
Time: 4:30-ish.
Place: 1st Street, just off of Main in front of Bella Latte.
Come check out this free show! And check out our new PA!
posted by Edward Svengali @ Thursday, October 06, 2005,
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Goodbye Casa Bonita
10/01/2005
At 5:00, I raced from work to Casa Bonita, a local restaurant steeped in decades of childhood memories (it's also a South Park episode). My wife and I were going on a date down memory lane!
The food was never very good at Casa Bonita, and the price was a little steep, but the exciting atmosphere (caverns, waterfalls, mock-up old Mexican buildings, performers and a travelling mariachi) has been a unique and exciting Tulsa treasure for decades. Though the excitement had been more streamlined and slimmed up over the years, Casa Bonita still retained its charm and ability to enchant children and adults alike.
And after 31 years, they closed the doors for good.
I visited Casa Bonita for the first time in the mid-70s, back when it was a new attraction. I cherish the memories of running around the restaurant with my older sister, cashing in our Monkey Bucks for prizes in the Treasure Room, watching the puppet show in the Theater, playing games and riding the carousel in the game room. I also have a strong memory for the mysterious 'Fortune Teller' booth (which, sadly, was not dispensing any fortunes last night).
We waited in line for OVER THREE HOURS to get a seat.
At its peak, the line extended halfway around the building. It was an unbelievable sight that made my eyes water, and I managed to snap a few photos that I will try to post later. To see so many people paying homage to the memories of their youth, to see them dragging their children out who never will again experience Casa Bonita, was a pleasant - and terribly sad - experience for me. And unbeknownst to me at the time, this overwhelming throng of people would help to make my last Casa Bonita meal a bittersweet and slightly nauseating moment.
Most of the familiar things were there. The man in the crazy old pink gorilla suit spent the entire day hugging children and giving the adults something to reminisce about. The Treasure Room was still there, though it had been vandalized (which was sad to see and made me quite angry). The theater was open, and Capstone the Magician was putting on his final performance there (When I was a child, there was a puppet show in the Theater). The fountain, the caves and the beautiful decor were all clean and lit and perfect. And the wait staff were all completely stressed out and insane from the overwhelming crowd! The mariachis were not to be seen, however. This I missed a great deal.
We enjoyed our meal and spent a little time soaking up the atmosphere one last time. On our way out, I purchased some old postcards from the gift shop. My wife and I left feeling very sad, because 1) we were saying a final farewell to a childhood memory that we both share, and 2) the vandalism and theft was infuriating and sad.
I find it a terrible shame that my final memory of Casa Bonita is watching customers stealing the "Flags" from the tabletops (the flags are how one would get the wait-person's attention). By the time we left, there was not a single flag in the building. Things were broken, stolen, decor was bent and twisted. The joy of seeing so many people turn out to pay homage was replaced with disgust and shame at the human race for being so petty and troublesome and greedy. These people don't deserve a place as unique and enjoyable as Casa Bonita.
Of course, to top it all off I discovered the real reason the restaurant was closed. Allegedly, the owner of the property confronted the owner of the store with a lease renewal, but the store owner would need to make some repairs first. The store owner didn't want to make the repairs, and he also asked for a month-to-month lease. Nobody in their right mind would lease this amount of property on a monthly basis, but they went to court over it and the owner of Casa Bonita lost. Then they simply had no choice but to close the restaurant.
Basically, pettiness on the part of the restaurant owner has resulted in the loss of yet another local flavor. 21st/Sheridan will never again have the fancy lights and the business that it once had. When Crystal's Pizza closed more than a decade ago (a similar attraction practically right next door), it was sad but didn't quite have the same effect.
But there is hope yet. Perhaps someone else will step in and use the architecture for another restaurant? Perhaps the food will be better next time round? There are all sorts of rumors, but I'm not getting my hopes up.
Final observation: Nearly half my posts lately have been lamentations for dying or long-dead attractions. What is my obsession with paying homage to my past in this way? Is it because I'm feeling my mortality?
(For more info, read the excellent Wikipedia article on Casa Bonita)
My wife and I followed up the evening by going to the movie. We went to see Serenity, the cinematic spin-off of Joss Whedon's much-loved yet quickly cancelled series Firefly. The movie was absolutely fantastic, and bittersweet in its own way (but I will not spoil it here). Serenity exceeded my expectations by a million light years, and the crowded theater clapped halfway through the closing credits.
Joss Whedon just kicked Star Wars, Star Trek, and the entire LOTR trilogy in the arse, then jumped in for a little more bloodletting. He has gone made with creativity. I hope we get more.
All in all, an evening I will never forget. Intense and bittersweet and full of joy and pain and sorrow. Goodbye Casa Bonita.
posted by novachild @ Saturday, October 01, 2005,
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